And now he showed her something that she had forgotten.
How had he come to possess her memories?
She gave a short gasp as understanding unfurled in her mind. “You are the monster stealing my memories.”
“No, I am not.” He laughed a little; it sounded like mountains crumbling, crushing entire cities beneath the rubble. “I am the monster that will restore your memories.”
41.
HANNE
Nadine threw open the door just as Hanne arrived.
“You’re safe!” Relief flooded through Hanne, so raw and powerful. She almost couldn’t stand it.
“Yes, of course, but you—” Nadine pressed her mouth into a line as she took in Hanne’s appearance.
Her hands were sliced open from the obsidian crown, and the acidic rancor blood had eaten through patches of her clothes and skin, but nothing—not even her own agony—could keep Hanne from her cousin. There could have been another rancor, after all. It could have come after Nadine; if this rancor king knew so much about her, it would know that Nadine was the only person Hanne truly cared for.
Hanne’s fists trembled around the broken crown. If anything had hurt Nadine, she would have burned the world to the ground.
“Blessed Tuluna! Hanne, we have to get you to a physician.” Nadine couldn’t quite keep the horror out of her voice.
“It’s fine,” Hanne said. “I just need to wash off.”
“You need stitches.” Worry creased Nadine’s brow.
They left the gore-covered crown in the parlor, grabbed clean clothes, and then hurried to the grand physician herself, where Hanne was washed and treated and wrapped in bandages. When the grand physician stepped out of the room so that Hanne could rest, Hanne told Nadine everything that had happened.
Nadine’s eyebrows pushed together. “What even is a rancor king?”
Hanne lowered her gaze to her hands, the snowy bandages hiding all the blood she’d spilled. “It’s what it sounds like.”
“And it—he?—cares that Queen Grace is dead. Why?”
That was more puzzling. “Well, I intended to get to it eventually, when it was most beneficial. Perhaps the rancor king means to foil my plans. Her death must put me at a disadvantage.”
They were quiet for a moment, thinking.
“Queen Grace would have been a strong ally while Rune is in Ivasland,” Nadine offered. “If you’d succeeded in winning her over, she might have protected you from your enemies here. Charity, certainly, and perhaps the rest of the Crown Council. If the King from Beneath was the true author of your mission to Ivasland, perhaps it is you he wishes to harm. Or perhaps he was testing how far he can bend you to his will.”
Hanne nodded slowly. “Yes, I think he must be. But I don’t take orders from rancor. I destroy rancor.”
Even as she said the words, it was hard to believe she’d actually done it. She’d killed a rancor with her own two hands. And if she must, she would do it again.
Grand Physician Asheater stepped into Hanne’s sickroom again and handed Nadine an envelope. “I have personally fetched these from my stores. You’ll find several labeled herb packets inside. For tea. Some for pain, some for wakefulness. The queen may find she has trouble sleeping.”
The grand physician frowned, as if she, too, anticipated having trouble sleeping. She would likely be inspecting the body. Bodies, that was, because there were two: the former queen and the rancor.
“Thank you, Grand Physician.” Nadine tucked the envelope under her arm. “How often should she have her bandages replaced?”
“Every morning, please, or anytime the pain changes or becomes unbearable. I’m concerned about the wounds festering.”
Beneath the heavy bandages, Hanne flexed her hands experimentally. A spiderweb of stabbing shot up to her elbows, but that didn’t bother her; she could withstand a little pain.
What worried her was the thought of rancor blood mixing with hers, and what unknown ailments that might cause. But Tuluna was on her side, and surely their holy presence would burn away any pollution.
She would also, she resolved, double the amount of obsidian she wore. It couldn’t hurt.
A few minutes later, they were alone once more. “I know you should probably stay in Rune’s apartments, as is befitting of your station,” Nadine said, “but I’d feel much better if you stayed in my suite, where I can tend to you. You’ve endured so much, and now you can’t use your hands. You should be close to the people who care about you.”
“It’s a shame his chambers are so small,” Hanne murmured. “Only a few rooms. Who thought that was enough space for a prince and his wife and both their households?”
“I believe your presence there was meant to be temporary,” Nadine said. “Just long enough for you to get pregnant. Then you would have moved into your own suite with all of us to care for you.”
“I see.” Hanne, who’d had bigger problems on her mind, hadn’t actually paid all that much attention to how often she would be moved around. It seemed like a huge inconvenience, though, and something of an insult. She was the new queen, after all. “Perhaps,” she said slowly, “I should simply move into the queen’s chambers, as the former occupant is no longer with us.”
Nadine sounded hesitant. “As of a few hours ago.”
“The royal chambers should never go empty. Surely Caberwillines believe it to be bad luck, don’t they?”
“I’m not sure….”
“They’re a superstitious lot. And besides, I am the queen now, and it’s increasingly clear that I need my ladies with me—at all times. There’s space enough in the queen’s chambers, I should think. If I’m going to be moved about the castle again, I would like to move into the last location I will ever live—at least until I return to Solspire.” She paused, considering. “And while we are at it, we should have Rune moved into the king’s chambers. It would be good to do that while he’s away. He won’t be disturbed.”
“I think he’ll be very disturbed. His father—”
“Isn’t using those rooms anymore.”
“You might not want to phrase it that way to anyone else,” Nadine advised.
“Well, no. But you understand.” Hanne had never needed to mince words around Nadine, but she appreciated the occasional reminder when it came to other people and how they may view her statements. “It wouldn’t do for me to live in the queen’s chambers while Rune keeps his former rooms. I would look arrogant. No, it must be done at once. He will overcome the discomfort. He knows the price the crown carries.”